Atlantic Senior Ryan Hawkins signed a National Letter of Intent Wednesday to continue his basketball career at Wayne State University.   The Wildcats are an NCAA Division II program playing in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.  Hawkins signed on Wednesday at the Atlantic high school surrounded by the Atlantic coaching staff and his Mother Rhonda.

Pictured: Ryan Hawkins, Rhonda Hawkins, Head Coach Alan Jenkins, Activities Director Matt Alexander

Ryan said he felt that Wayne State was a great fit for him because the coaching staff really wanted him to get to know the players and made him feel welcome.

Hawkins said he first knew he would have the possibility of playing at the collegiate level when he was a Sophomore and the team really worked hard to come together and motivated him to work toward that goal.

He said he worked hard to improve and felt he had a great summer in AAU competition.  He stated that he looked at a few other schools in the area but felt Wayne State was where he belonged and likes the fact that he won’t be too far from home.

Atlantic Head Coach Alan Jenkins said it is a great honor for a player to achieve a scholarship to play basketball at the next level.

Jenkins gave all the credit to Hawkins saying that he didn’t get attention from colleges by luck or accident but by hard work.  He also touched on Hawkins’ leadership in the program.

Coach Jenkins also talked about what he tries to do as a coach to blend improving the team along with helping a player individually to help them get to the next level.

Hawkins will now focus on his Senior season with the Trojan squad and is looking forward to seeing what they can achieve.